Cricket , In 2005 England outplayed Australia in an enthralling five-match Test series to end 16 years of defeat by its oldest cricketing foe and regain possession of the small but symbolic Ashes urn. England recovered from losing the first Test at Lord’s by 239 runs to win the second Test by just two runs and then failed by one wicket to win the third Test as Australia’s last pair of batsmen, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, survived the final 24 balls of the match to eke out a draw. Needing 129 runs to win the fourth Test, England collapsed to 116 for 7 before Ashley Giles scored the winning runs. Never in the 128-year history of Test cricket had three consecutive matches produced such thrilling finishes. Australia had to win the final Test at the Oval to tie the series and retain the Ashes, but some timely rain and a second-innings score of 158 by Kevin Pietersen, England’s South African-born batsman, on the final day earned the draw that took the Ashes trophy back to its spiritual home. There was national rejoicing, and the England team, led by captain Michael Vaughan and inspired by Andrew (“Freddie”) Flintoff, was feted in a parade through the streets of London. A set of special postage stamps was issued to commemorate the historic victory. To cap an unforgettable summer, England’s women cricketers also won back the Ashes after a gap of 42 years.

Flintoff, England’s Ashes Player of the Series, scored 402 runs, including a century, at an average of 40.20 and took 24 wickets (average 27.29), easily the most effective all-round contribution from either side. Pietersen, in his first Test series, was the leading run scorer with 473, and Marcus Trescothick, who had been a conspicuous failure in Australia two years before, erased those memories with 431 runs. England outperformed Australia in every department, batted more solidly, and with a battery of four fast bowlers (Stephen Harmison, Flintoff, Simon Jones, and Matthew Hoggard) bowled more aggressively.

Australia’s resistance was led by Shane Warne, who during the third Test became the first bowler to pass 600 wickets in Test cricket and ended the series with 40 wickets (average 19.92). Only a brilliant innings of 156 runs by captain Ricky Ponting staved off defeat in the third Test, while at times it seemed that only Warne’s genius as a leg spinner stood between England and certain victory. Ironically, Warne dropped the decisive catch in the fifth Test that would have put Pietersen out when he had scored just 15 runs. Justin Langer was the top scorer for Australia, with 394 runs, and McGrath took 19 wickets (including match figures of 9 for 82 at Lord’s) despite having missed two Tests through injury. McGrath and Warne, both age 35, left the Oval to a standing ovation at the end of their final Tests in England.

Despite the Ashes loss, Australia ended the 2004–05 season as officially the best team in the world, with England second. Only India came close, though its first home series against Pakistan in five years ended in stalemate. After a drawn first Test, Rahul Dravid scored a century in both innings to help India win the second. Younis Khan replied with innings of 267 and 84 not out to bring Pakistan level in the third Test. Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain, was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for six matches for having deliberately slowed down the over rate in the one-day series between the two countries.

South Africa lost narrowly to England at home, but in Jacques Kallis the South Africans had one of the game’s most consistent all-rounders. The decline of West Indies cricket continued, though the side, captained by Shivnarine Chanderpaul, managed to draw against Pakistan and Brian Lara became the fourth batsman—after Australia’s Steve Waugh and India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar—to beat Sir Don Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries.

In Sri Lanka the December 2004 tsunami devastated the country’s prettiest cricket ground at Galle and took the lives of a generation of young cricketers in the area. On the day the tsunami struck, a local representative side and a touring team from England’s Harrow School were about to play a match at Galle. Both teams escaped by climbing to the top of the pavilion. To the dismay of the cricketing community, the authorities announced that they might not restore Galle but rather intended to build a new ground farther from the sea. Not surprisingly, the Sri Lankan players had little appetite for the game in 2005 and lost in New Zealand before beating both West Indies and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe’s political troubles continued to blight its cricket team, which suffered a series of humiliating defeats, including a loss to South Africa in less than two days. It seemed only a matter of time before the ICC withdrew Zimbabwe’s Test status.

In English domestic cricket, Nottinghamshire won the county championship, Hampshire took the one-day knockout trophy, Essex gained the one-day league title, and Somerset secured the Twenty20 Cup. In the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago won the one-day President’s Cup, and Jamaica captured the Carib Beer Cup. A reorganization of the regional structure in South Africa brought victory for the Eagles, one of six new franchises, in the one-day Standard Bank Cup and a share of the SuperSport Series for the Eagles and the Dolphins. Tasmania (in the ING one-day cup) and New South Wales (in the Pura Cup) took the domestic honours in Australia.